Monument record 5473 - Open Field System, Whitfield

Medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation and furlong boundary banks, remnants of the former common open-field system, is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of the Open Fields Project and Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304).

{1} The common fields of the parish were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1796. No details of the open fields are known. Ridge and furrow of these fields exists on the ground or can be traced from air photos over wide areas of the parish, arranged mainly in interlocked and end-on furlongs, many of reversed-S form. In some places (eg SP602394) it is notable for the great variation in the widths of ridges within a single furlong. A number of well marked headlands survive (eg SP614396 and SP608403).

{3-7} Medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation and furlong boundary banks, remnants of the former common open-field system, is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of Historic England’s North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located across Whitfield parish and centred at SP 60775 39726, these blocks are aligned mostly between NW-SE and NNW-SSE, with only a few blocks aligned WSW-ENE. Almost all the ridge and furrow cultivation blocks are visible as extant earthworks on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s, but aerial photographs taken in 2019 and recent remote sensing data indicate that many blocks have been plough-levelled due to changes to post-war agricultural regimes. The linear earthwork furlong banks are part of a much more extensive system of land division boundaries that extends eastwards through Bedfordshire and beyond into Cambridgeshire. Whilst many of these features originate in the medieval period with the establishment of the common field cultivation system, some of the boundary banks may have earlier origins. They remain visible chiefly as extant, sinuous, parallel, plough-levelled earthwork sections on recent lidar remote sensing data, with the primary alignment roughly WSW-ENE. Whilst some of the linear banks respect the boundaries of the mapped ridge and cultivation blocks, others pass through the extant ridge and furrow, possibly indicating former medieval cultivation boundaries that were subsequently readjusted.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.167 site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<3> Vertical Aerial Photograph, US-7PH-GP-LOC201 PORT 13048 06-MAR-1944 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<4> Vertical Aerial Photograph, US-7PH-GP-LOC201 PORT 13049 06-MAR-1944 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<5> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF-3G-TUD-UK-86 RV 6001 26-MAR-1946 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<6> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF-106G-UK-1380 RS 4271 09-APR-1946 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<7> Environment Agency, LIDAR Composite DTM - 1m, LIDAR SP63NW dated 2019 SP6038, SP6039, SP6139, SP6239 (Digital Plots). SNN111710.

Record last edited

Aug 2 2024 4:00PM